In Hiding
by SomeDeadMan
Summary: The last hours of a small group of survivors. Oneshot.


A/N: I do not own XCOM or any characters within.

It all started so fast, it's almost surreal. My memory is like a blur, with all the gunshots, the screams, the sirens melding into cacophony. And what they looked like. That, I can remember, vividly. Why wouldn't I? I see them every time I close my eyes. Lumbering beasts, filled with rage, ripping apart my friends, and when they ran out of victims, out of targets, tearing into themselves as well. Insectoid creatures, chittering madly in an alien tongue, ripping out throats and planting eggs in the wounds, and things even worse.

I thought we were doomed. We had holed up in a deli, and for a couple of hours the aliens didn't notice us. They probably didn't see us as worth killing, to be honest. It was just the four of us. Me, Jim, Laura, and Ben. We'd barricaded the door as best we could, taking chairs, tables, and even one of the shelves from the back. The thing was so heavy, it took all four of us to carry it, but it was worth it. The barricade saved my life. By the time we'd finished, the sirens and the gunshots had died down. The screams, though...

The noises chilled me to the bone, Earsplitting screams of pain and Alien roars of triumph, the sizzle of plasma hitting a wall, or maybe a body. I don't think I'll ever forget them.

We tried to take our minds off of it. Tried not to panic. We talked a lot during those couple of hours, talked about nothing, just trying to stay distracted. A couple of times, we saw one of the aliens pass by, and that shut us right up. We held our breath, praying that they wouldn't notice. It worked, I don't know how but it worked. Around the fifth hour in, we saw a group of those bugs passing through. It seems they were on the hunt again, just checking door to door. We were screwed, as soon as they tried this one, they'd know something was up, and I doubted the barricade would hold up for long against three of them. So we waited for the inevitable, because what else was there to do? Jim prayed, Ben was sobbing, and Laura was just unresponsive. She had a glazed look in her eyes, like she was daydreaming. Not like I could blame her. It was as good a method of coping as any, I suppose.

The minute they got up to the doors, they could sense something was wrong. Maybe they smelled us, maybe they heard us, but they were acting different. Aggressive. I could hear gunshots again, but I didn't think anything of it. More like some group of citizens, making a last stand. Not like us hiding like mice in our little holes. Anyway, the bugs were aggressive, and they knew something was wrong. They could see that the door was blocked, but they were still stuck on the metal shelf. They were making headway quickly, and we knew that once they got through, our number would be up. The gunshots, though, were getting closer. I caught a glimpse of blue in the distance, and then they were on us. Jim was the first one to die, he just had the misfortune of being closest to the door. One of them simply slit his throat and left him. Another one paused near him, and put...something in his wound. then, to my surprise, he got up! Something was wrong, though. He was moving strangely, disjointedly. That's all I could see before I ran. I took grabbed Ben's hand, and dragged him along. Along towards our only hope. The freezer. As I ran, I heard gunshots behind me, inside the deli. I turned my head, and I caught a glimpse of a man clad in blue, before I turned the corner. However, it seemed that one of the bugs noticed us. It skittered along towards us, much faster than any human could hope to be. I could see the freezer, only a few meters away. I rushed towards it, not stopping, even when I heard Ben cry out in pain. Even when i felt a bolt of pain rush through me, I rushed forward. We made it to the freezer a second before the bug, and we wasted no time in slamming the door. My head was getting fuzzy, and I was finding it hard to move my arms, but I managed to lock the door before I collapsed.

I couldn't move, but I was still conscious. Barely. I could make out the banging on the door, and I could feel Ben sprawled above me. I could feel a dull ache in my head, but for some reason, I couldn't feel my left hand. I could faintly make out a fight going on in the outside, but that was far away, and I was so tired. My head felt like it was filled with lead, and the last thing I remember before I passed out was that man in blue, standing over me.


End file.
